It is from the discards of former civilizations that archaeologists have reconstructed most of what we know about the past, and it is through their examination of today's garbage that William Rathje and Cullen Murphy inform us of our present. Rubbish! is their witty and erudite investigation into all aspects of the phenomenon of garbage. Rathje and Murphy show what the study of garbage tells us about a population's demographics and buying habits. Along the way, they dispel the common myths about our "garbage crisis"—about fast-food packaging and disposable diapers, about biodegradable garbage and the acceleration of the average family's garbage output. They also suggest methods for dealing with the garbage we do have.

Plastic bottles, cardboard boxes, aluminium cans... we all get through a lot of rubbish, but do you really know what happens after you put it in the bin? Are you even sure which bin it goes in? Recycling has never been more important – but it has also never been more complicated. Where do you put bottle lids? Why can't black plastic be recycled? What do you do with labels? The Rubbish Book answers all these questions and many more, providing you with all the information you need to become a true recycling expert, so you can help protect the planet with confidence. Written by an award-winning sustainability expert, it includes an A–Z of household items and whether they can be recycled; an in-depth look at the collection and sorting processes; a break-down of what the recycling symbols on our packaging actually mean; and an insight into the future of recycling and the new materials that will change the way we look at rubbish for ever.

These imaginative crafts projects will inspire kids to help preserve the environment by recycling their trash into toys. Well-illustrated, step-by-step instructions for glove puppets, model airplanes, a robot suit, and more.

An ethnography of Uruguayan waste-pickers that reconceptualizes rubbish as a form of modern-day commons.

This is a study of the material life of information and its devices; of electronic waste in its physical and electronic incarnations; a cultural and material mapping of the spaces where electronics in the form of both hardware and information accumulate, break down, or are stowed away. Where other studies have addressed "digital" technology through a focus on its immateriality or virtual qualities, Gabrys traces the material, spatial, cultural and political infrastructures that enable the emergence and dissolution of these technologies. In the course of her book, she explores five interrelated "spaces" where electronics fall apart: from Silicon Valley to Nasdaq, from containers bound for China to museums and archives that preserve obsolete electronics as cultural artifacts, to the landfill as material repository. Digital Rubbish: A Natural History of Electronics describes the materiality of electronics from a unique perspective, examining the multiple forms of waste that electronics create as evidence of the resources, labor, and imaginaries that are bundled into these machines. Ranging across studies of media and technology, as well as environments, geography, and design, Jennifer Gabrys draws together the far-reaching material and cultural processes that enable the making and breaking of these technologies.

"Get up close and personal with our world of waste! From the ins and outs of recycling, to the nitty-gritty of landfills and dumps, to how creative people find new ways to reuse rubbish, this book is everything you ever wanted to know--and everything you need to know--about trash on land, in our oceans, and even in outer space!"--Page [4] of cover.

“A delight. All the Best Rubbish is one of those rare volumes that both instruct and entertain. I recommend it to any collector.” —Harold L. Peterson, Chief Curator, US National Park Service Ivor Noel Hume, the former chief archaeologist of Colonial Williamsburg, offers a delightful, anecdotal, and informative celebration of the joys of collecting. In his newly revised edition, All the Best Rubbish traces the fascinating history of collecting from its recorded beginnings and describes the remarkable detective work that goes into establishing the probable facts about uncovered and often underappreciated treasures. Now expanded with hints, tips, and helpful information about antique-hunting online, All the Best Rubbish is the ideal book for the antiquarian or amateur. Noël Hume has pursued bottles, pottery, clocks, and coins through junk shops, street markets, attics, and cellars on two continents. He's unearthed the most fascinating—and valuable—rubbish from the most unlikely places: the shores of the Thames in London; the lagoons of the Caribbean; the bottom of Martha Washington's well. Hume knows everything that's worth knowing about collecting—why we do it, what we can find, where we can find it, and what we can learn from it.